


They Weep Themselves To Sleep

by Salzburger



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-18
Updated: 2012-10-18
Packaged: 2017-11-16 13:32:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/539972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salzburger/pseuds/Salzburger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aurora goes through a serious bout of the downers after Prince Phillip's unfortunate demise. Mulan tells her to wake up. For now, a one-time fic. A bit of an AU, in that it does not follow the storyline in the TV series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Weep Themselves To Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: Hi! Please review after you've read the fic. I value the learning opportunity. And, of course, thanks for bearing with me. This takes place after the first episode of the season 2 premiere of Once Upon A Time, but pretends that Emma and Mary Margaret were never discovered in the ruins where the wraith appeared.

Once Upon A Time - They Weep Themselves To Sleep

 

WE WERE supposed to be forever, the sort of Happily Ever After that happens to people who went through all manners of tribulations, to find each other in the end. 

Instead, I woke up to a nightmare that never ends. I wish, in the deepest corner of my heart that still believed in wishes and fairy dust, that I had never been lifted from my sleeping curse only to watch as my Prince fall to a soul-sucking wraith. When Phillip died, I died as well. I suppose that is what happens when your one true love is wrenched from you.

I was taught that my future would be far different from this meagre half-life existence I now lead. Yes, my parents had warned me, there will be troubles in my life. It is to be expected of any person, whether they are a lowly farm hand or a princess. But when I find my one true love, and he finds me, we can conquer anything. No dragons or evil spells can break the power of true love's kiss.

Well, what power will it take to break true love's loss? 

The days and nights converged in a blur after Mulan and I buried Phillip in a grave far too modest for a man of his noble birth. I was not much help with the digging - after all those years of deep slumber, my body has become weaker than I remember, and the beautiful dress I woke up in leaves me hardly suitable for such rough work. The thought has occurred to me that the silk brocade and embroidered cloth were the clothes my parents had chosen for me when I fell into a death-like sleep - the clothes I would wear to my deathbed, so to speak, if Phillip were to ever fail in his quest. How would they ever expect that I will wake up 28 years too late in the ruins of my grand castle, and watch my beloved die before my eyes? 

But I refused my newfound travelling companion's offers of more appropriate garb - leathers, pants, hard-wearing boots - because now nothing matters. I will wear this dress till it, and I, turn to dust.

I lost track of the days that passed. It could have been just a day or two after the burial, or weeks and months. One day, as we were camping in a shady overgrowth in the woods when the sun had set, Mulan broke the silence between the two of us first.

"You have to stop this," she said, tossing more firewood into our campfire to build up enough fire to make stew. 

"Stop what?" I asked sullenly, my voice cracking from disuse. I had been resentful of the woman fighter since I first found out she had been travelling with Phillip to find me. What kind of woman dresses up in armour like this and goes on quests? And I knew, oh yes, she was in love with my Prince too. But my dislike for this rival has turned into a passive coolness since he died.

She shrugged, like she was going to keep quiet again. She picked up the little travelling pot and poured water and meat from some game she had hunted earlier into the container, then hooked it to branches that allowed the pot to hang over the fire quite securely. 

"This whole dead-eyed, woeful behaviour," she said, choosing to focus on the task at hand than at me. "You're not the only one grieving. Stop being such a sop."

"You seem like you're doing just fine without Phillip as it is," I said, and added, spitefully: "Maybe it's because he's MY one true love."

The slap never came. I was expecting it; women in fights tended to strike at each other's faces, so I was bracing myself. Instead, Mulan turned sharply at me, her darks eyes flashing with menace, and took a step back from me, sheathing the small curved dagger in her belt. I didn't even notice that she had moved. 

"Were you going to run me through with the knife? Do it," I said weakly. "It will be a blessing to me."

She looked at me with hatred. Was that the same look I was giving her? She pulled the dagger from her belt again and tossed it at my feet. 

"You can do it yourself if that's what you want. But Phillip," she paused. "He gave up his life to protect the both of us. I will not cheapen his sacrifice by ending my life this way. I have no control over what you do. He told me to protect you, and I promised I would. But if you must be like this, then go ahead."

I stared at the dagger and picked it up. 

"You hold it by the other end. The part with the handle," she said helpfully. "There are a number of ways you can do it. Stick it through your chest, to show how dramatically broken hearted you are, but it won't be a quick death. Or slide the blade across your throat so you drown on your own blood. You could also cut your wrists, but you'll need to cut it deeply enough so that the blood flows…"

"Stop, stop!" I dropped the dagger, my hands shaking too much. "I can't do it. I tried every day to do it but I can't. When we cross rivers I think of walking into the water and never come back up. When we tie up the horses for the night I consider using the spare ropes to form a noose."

"What's keeping you from doing it?" she took the dagger from the grass, cleaning it carefully before returning it to its rightful place.

"It's him. Phillip. When I try to think about him, instead of building up my courage to end it all I feel my resolve weaken. I'm weak, not like him."

"You're wrong, Aurora."

It was possibly the first time she had ever called me by my name, instead of "You there" or the sarcastic moniker, "Sleeping Beauty". I looked up at her. She seemed awkward, like she would prefer to be anywhere but here in this campsite, talking about such things to me. There were beads of sweat on her brow, but she persevered.

"When Phillip and I were travelling, I was constantly …bombarded with stories of you. How the two of you first met, and when you were cursed, how he was willing to give up everything to fight for you. He was very strong. He was one of the best fighters I have had the honour of fighting alongside. But he wasn't strong on his own. He derived his strength from his love of you," Mulan sighed. "You speak of this true love, now, like it is a curse to you, but to Phillip it was the power that helped him overcome monsters and dragons. The power, I think, works both ways. You have to be strong for him now."

"You loved him too," I said in a small voice. "Is that why you're able to go on?"

"I don't know. In my kingdom, where I came from, we don't really believe in the same kind of things that you do. Honour, tradition, integrity - those are the things we value. I am skilled in various forms of combat styles involving swords, unarmed combat and tactical military planning. I led a battalion to victory while pretending to be a man. I trusted and loved Phillip when we fought and travelled, but it may be a different kind of love than the kind the two of you had." She looked at me. "You could stop me if I am talking too much."

I smiled, despite myself. It was the longest I had ever heard her speak. I wonder if she and Phillip spoke at such lengths too, back then. "I need some time to think about it. But thank you."

Mulan shrugged in the most expressive gesture a usually reserved person like herself has ever made. "Someone had to do something, and the horses weren't about to say a thing."

"Well… what will we do now?"

"There's a safe haven just two more day's ride over. We can go there first, where we won't be ambushed by ogres and other wild animals every night, and decide from there. Will that be fine?"

I nodded. "It'll do." Mulan nodded and stirred the pot. "Oh, Mulan, one more thng." 

She looked back at me. I fingered my dress: "Can I have a change of clothes?"


End file.
